Brine Inbox: Laxies, Fall Tournaments

Welcome to the Brine Inbox, a mailbag where ILWomen's editor answers your questions about women's lacrosse... or anything in the remote realm of women's lacrosse for that matter. Have a question? Send it to ilwomen@insidelacrosse.com and see if it gets answered in an upcoming inbox. You can also submit a question on Twitter with the hashtag #BrineInbox or post it on our Facebook page.

Today's inbox is very Laxies-focused, which I like since there are a lot of women nominated this year. So let's get to it.

Why the big push for Game of the Year in the Laxies? Why not focus on other nominees as well?
—Sally, Wisconsin
I see your point, but I assure you it is not because I don't care about the other awards.

The push for the North Carolina vs. Maryland national championship game to win Game of the Year is two-fold. First, I really believe there is no way any other game in that cateogry should win. The Duke vs. Loyola game is its toughest competition. I watched that game, and was it exciting — yes. But as exciting as the game we were treated to on the biggest stage possible for the sport? No.

The second part is that of all the categories where there is a female nominee (with the exception of DI Women's Player of the Year, since there is a female victor guaranteed in that one), I think Game of the Year is the best shot a female nominee has at winning. Vote now!

Do you feel strongly for any of the other female nominees in the Laxies?
—Sally, Wisconsin
Fine, the first question was actually a three-parter. I just thought it would be easier to separate it out. I think either Jenny Levy or Chris Robinson should win Coach of the Year.

Chris Robinson has led a team that hasn't lost in 69 games. McDonogh graduated a significant amount of talent too, and once again, the Eagles went undefeated and won the IAAM A championship.

Jenny Levy led North Carolina to the program's first national championship, which is almost a case in itself. The only other coach on the nominee list who hadn's previously won a title with the team they coached was Paul Cantabene, who led Stevenson to its first Division III title. The way Levy did it though — bringing in Katrina Dowd and really giving her free reign with the offense, the effects of which were very evident, going with a new defensive philosophy in the semifinals against Northwestern, getting everyone to buy in — just shows the impact of a good coach, and I think she should win.

What fall tournament are you most excited about covering?
—Hannah, Baltimore
There are some really good ones this year, but I think the tournaments I'm most excited about in terms of the teams that will be playing are actually ones I won't be able to cover. Don't worry — there will still be coverage on ILWomen.com, but it just won't be me who's there doing it. Caroline Darney will be at the Play for Parkinson's playday in Alexandria on Sunday where Duke, Maryland, Penn State, Towson and Georgetown will be playing.

She'll also be at the Navy Invitational on October 12. This is the one I'm really jealous of her for — Notre Dame, Northwestern, North Carolina, Syracuse, Georgetown and Colorado.

I'm pumped to go to the Stick it to Sarcoma tournament at Johns Hopkins on Sunday. I've gone each year since former Blue Jay attacker Rachel Ballatori started the event three years ago in honor of her dad, who passed away from Sarcoma in December 2011. It's always a great event and this year Ballatori has included some new, fun things for fans in attendance. There's a raffle and a silent auction with some great prizes. Not to mention I'm excited to see Hopkins offense with Steele Stanwick's influence. I haven't seen Louisville or Rutgers play in a long time, two programs that made some noise in the Big East last season. It should be a fantastic day.